Life. Is. Good. And this meatloaf variation is proof.
When regular meatloaf is done well, it is one of my absolute favorite foods on God’s green earth. Warm with a drizzle of ketchup across the sliced side is a little slice of heaven when life is overwhelming.
The problem is that on the days I’m most in need of comfort food, I am least inclined to put in the work to making it great. On those days, meatloaf is a swift combination of meat, ketchup, onion, breadcrumbs and garlic powder. It gets the job done, but not leaves lots of room for improvement.
But there was early morning when I had my act together and I still craved meatloaf. I was browsing cookbooks and making a grocery list for dinner, and I found this spectacular recipe gathering dust on my bookshelf. Why, oh why, hadn’t I attacked this one before??
Dish Count: LOTS.
But I didn’t even mind.
I had a half-pound of spaghetti noodles left in a battered box in the pantry, and a more-than-half-full jar of marinara sauce in the fridge from some other kitchen adventure. Neither had done anything to excite me in the previous days, but suddenly the Meatloaf Bakery made the angels sing.
Consider combining the two abandoned leftovers atop and between two layers of a gently kneeded meatloaf mix of beef and pork, fresh mozzarella cheese, sun dried tomato pesto, onion, garlic, breadcrumbs and red wine. Cue the alleluia chorus. I can’t wait to make this one again. I don’t care how many dishes I had to wash when it was all done.
The Meatloaf Bakery opened in Chicago in 2008 and expanded with a food truck soon after, the brainchild of a former corporate public relations professional.
Find the recipe here and the cookbook wherever you buy books.
